Spider-Gwen Vol 2 23
** ** ** Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Unnamed party-goer Other Characters: * * ** ** ** ** Unidentified other * ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** Numerous unnamed others * * * * * * * Kent (news anchor) * * * MJ's ex * Liz's boyfriend * Numerous unnamed New Yorkers Races and Species: * * * * * * Locations: * ** *** **** ***** ****** ******* **** ***** **** ***** ****** ******* ******** Upper West Side ********* Gwen and Betty's apartment ******** Liz's apartment ****** ******* ******** ********* ***** ** *** **** ** Items: * * * * * | Synopsis1 = On Earth-8, game show host Mojo Harvey announces a Spider-Woman trivia contest between the Amazing Eight and a supervillain team called the Banditos. Mojo asks who Gwen Stacy's greatest archnemesis was, and the elderly Bodega Bandit eagerly presses the buzzer and says it was himself. To his dismay, Mojo declares this to be false and that the Bodega Bandit was Gwen's worst nemesis, asking Spider-Girl to give him the correct answer. Watching the game-show on a multiversal television and slouched in a lounge chair, Utau - the Watcher of Earth-65 - lackadaisically predicts the answer is going to be "Gwenom" and lets out a sigh of boredom as Spider-Girl responds that her mother's worst archnemesis was obviously Venom. Representatives of the Council of Watchers suddenly appear and demand he explain himself, berating him for neglecting his sacred duty as a Watcher to observe the events of Earth-65 and only Earth-65. Utau protests that he paused the events of Earth-65 just before the Venom symbiote bonded to Spider-Gwen, and awkwardly explains he just needed a break; that Earth-8 - a possible future timeline of Earth-65 - turned out an idyllic utopia, but that events on Earth-65 have gotten excessively dark. As the head representative shouts that the events on Earth-65 are essential to the very fabric of its continued existence, Utau protests that it used to be fun watching the wacky adventures of Spider-Gwen, but now everything's gotten all angsty and grim - lamenting the addition of yet another Wolverine to the Multiverse. The Council of Watchers states that such critical judgements are beneath the lofty status of a Watcher, threatening to strip him of his job if he continues neglecting his duty. Lamenting having been suckered into the promise of "an untapped universe of limitless potential", Utau grumbles that there has to be something with human drama worth watching on Earth-65 to give everything relatable context and make it more real - skimming through various ongoing events like surfing channels until he comes across the Em Jay Watson asking Glory Grant if she remembers their gig the next day. As Glory Grant assures her she'll be at the gig, Mary Jane Watson looks up to see a news report stating that Spider-Woman has been sighted in Madripoor and erupts into an angry tirade at Gwen neglecting band practise for superheroing. Glory mocks her theory about Gwen being Spider-Woman, but Em Jay suddenly has the brilliant idea of asking her to play drums. Glory retorts that if Em Jay is serious she's quitting, Em Jay retorting that she can't quit after just rejoining. Betty Brant interrupts, telling Glory she thinks her drum skills are really good. Glory asks how long she's been there, and Betty sarcastically states it's been days before saying she agrees with Em Jay, adding that a gig is a gig and she needs the money. Glory reluctantly agrees, but says Em Jay can't be happy about it. On the day of the gig, Glory expresses exasperation at Em Jay wondering if Gwen is a mutant, stating if that were the case Gwen would have gone to mutant school. Em Jay correctly guesses that Gwen was bitten by a radioactive spider, but Glory dismisses that as ridiculous because that's not how radioactivity or animal bites work. Em Jay chides Glory for being such a downer, Glory irritibly asking Em Jay if it's not enough that she's there doing the drumming gig. The heel on Em Jay's shoe abruptly breaks, and as she starts to cry Glory says they can stick it back on with gum. As Glory browses the flavors, Em Jay spots her ex-boyfriend and yanks Glory back down. As Glory teases her, Em Jay's ex spots her peeking around the corner and calls out to her. She awkwardly approaches him and asks how he's been, and he tells her he's moving to Los Angeles; asking if she has the records he lent her. Having completely forgotten about them, Em Jay says she has a gig to get to and that she can give them to him there, but he refuses. As Glory watches the discussion with a wryly amused expression, Betty walks up with an armful of candy - to Glory's incredulity. Glory asks if Em Jay really thinks they're going back to their apartment just to get her ex's records, but Em Jay says the thing is that they're not at her apartment: she leant them to Liz Allen, who now hates her. Glory quickly fires off a text to Liz and says they're good to go, rolling her eyes at Em Jay's surprise and saying that not everything has to be an ordeal. The three arrive at Liz's apartment - where a large party is ongoing - but she refuses to let Em Jay inside and glares at her instead. Glory sends Betty in to get the records, then asks Em Jay why Liz hates her. Em Jay said she and Liz had been good friends until Liz's boyfriend had started hitting on her. Em Jay had told Liz about his attempted infidelity, and Liz had abruptly stopped being her friend and started hating her. Glory facepalms at the self-absorbed way Em Jay had phrased this - making it sound like she'd been seducing him and rubbing it in Liz's face - and when Em Jay protests at being called self-absorbed Glory snaps that she literally named their band after herself. Inside the party, Liz gives Betty the missing records, but on the way out she bumps into a boy. The boy starts flirting with Betty, who irritably states she's not interested; though he thinks she's just playing hard-to-get and fails to realize she's being sarcastic. Outside, Em Jay protests that Glory can't quit the band, Glory asking if all she is to Em Jay is a backup drummer for when Gwen flakes out and continuing to call Em Jay out on her selfishness; becoming further exasperated by her staunch belief that Gwen is Spider-Woman. Em Jay states that she hates that Gwen's not there, but they can cope without her because Glory's good at playing drums; and that if Glory were to quit it would just be her and Betty and sometimes Gwen, and she doesn't want anyone other than Glory to be their band's keyboardist and occasional backup drummer. Em Jay begs Glory to tell her what she has to do to make her stay, and Glory begrudging says she can start by letting people aside from herself exist and matter to her. Betty interrupts the argument, snapping that she took so long because an annoying boy was talking to her. As they walk down the street, Glory wryly notes that she can't blame Em Jay for breaking up with her ex given his poor taste in music. The boy who'd spoken to Betty at the party runs after them, demanding to know why Betty wouldn't talk to him and angrily asking if she thinks she's too good for him. The boy demands to know if Betty has a boyfriend, but when she snaps that she does the boy insists that she must be lying. As the boy grabs Betty's phone to see if she has any photos, she yells at him to go away and Glory intercedes, snapping at the boy to back off. Em Jay kicks the boy in the back of the knee and punches him in the face hard enough to knock him out cold, retrieving Betty's phone as she and Glory stare in amazement. Betty asks if Em Jay is the superhero of the group, but she nonchalantly states she just took a self-defence course before cheerfully asking if they're ready to channel this adrenaline into a stellar performance. Em Jay admits her hand hurts really badly and wonders how Gwen manages to punch people for a living, Glory's admiration returning to exasperation. At the concert, Em Jay introduces herself and the other band members before launching into a performance. After the show, Em Jay fires off a text to Gwen telling her to take care of herself and come home in one piece. The trio take the subway home, Betty snoozing using Glory's shoulder as a pillow. Em Jay congratulates them on an excellent performance, though Glory wryly states she's still quitting. Em Jay responds with gentle sarcasm that she believes her, and Glory flirtatiously adds that she's quitting no matter how many boys Em Jay punches out; Em Jay smiling back and responding that she'd punch out all the boys for Glory. | Solicit = “Predators” Part 5! • GWEN! WOLVERINE! HARRY OSBORN! MADRIPOOR! • Plus, Hannah Blumenreich steps in for a guest story starring THE MARY JANES! | Notes = | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }} Category:Digital Comic Code included